Our View: Sheriff's Safe Return Program may be a lifesaver

Friday

Jul 28, 2017 at 9:21 AMJul 31, 2017 at 8:15 AM

Daily Press Editorial Board

While fighting crime and catching and locking up criminals remains Job 1 for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the agency recently launched a program that will help locate missing persons with disabilities more quickly and has the potential to reduce the time required for deputies to do so.

The Safe Return Program features an online database where families can register loved ones who have a habit of wandering away or who may be at risk to do so in the future. Typically, persons with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, severe autism, Down Syndrome or even severe deafness or mental illness are most at risk for wandering away from home without telling anyone.

Sometimes these persons are elderly and sometimes they are taking medication that must be administered promptly on a schedule. In either situation, time is of the essence in finding the missing, particularly when we’re experiencing a heat wave like we are now or in the winter when temperatures drop below freezing overnight.

“The Safe Return Program is an invaluable tool designed to protect some of our most vulnerable citizens,” Sheriff John McMahon said. “Deputies will have access to vital information that will reunite critical missing people with their families.”

The registry is easy to access. Family members and caretakers can visit the Sheriff’s Department’s website’s Safe Return page at www.sbcounty.gov/sheriff/safereturn/ You must create a user name and password, but the site even features a tutorial to help walk you through the process. It explains everything from resetting your password to uploading a photograph of the person you are registering.

Families can include everything from a loved one’s physical description and disability to behavioral triggers, best approach methods and places they’re likely to wander in the profile, McMahon said. And having the photograph on file will help deputies in the field save valuable time when looking for a critical missing person.

Conversely, the registry will be available for deputies to help them identify persons who may have wandered away without their family or caretaker knowing. Deputies can search the database for pictures of anyone they find who is unable to communicate with them. The hope is this will solve the mystery of the person’s identity quickly and enable the deputies to return them home safely.

The goal of this great new program is to reunite disabled persons who have wandered away with their families before they are injured, taken advantage of or die. The Sheriff’s Department deserves recognition for creating this valuable program and we encourage families and caretakers to immediately register loved ones who may be at risk of wandering off.

Crime will always be the main focus of the Sheriff’s Department, but it’s easy to forget that deputies also want to keep people safe. The safety of some of society’s most fragile persons counts just as much as the safety of the rest of us.

Kudos to Sheriff McMahon and his team for developing this important public safety tool.